COWON Touchscreen LCD MP3 Player Review
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Written To Better Inform Our Visitors Regarding These Deals: • COWON Touchscreen LCD Flash MP3 Player [INSTANT SAVINGS] |
The market for MP3 players is incredibly crowded, and so far, Apple and Microsoft have managed to dominate it quite effectively. Cowon, a Korean company, is not exactly a household name, but that does not stop them from constantly turning out quality products that perform above expectations. For this review, we’ll be looking at the Cowon D2 Touchscreen LCD Flash MP3 Player with a 4 gig hard drive. This is one of their newest entries on the market and we wanted to see how it stands up to the competition.
The D2 comes with two main color options, white or black, and although they are pretty simple when it comes to color palettes, the overall concept of the device is very nice. The edges are smoothed out and it feels substantial in the hand without being weighty. You immediately gain a lot of confidence when you hold the D2 that it will be able to withstand the daily bumps and scrapes that MP3 players must endure, and it does it with style.
The brushed metal exterior includes some controls, in addition to the touchscreen option as well as your standard inputs. The screen itself is quite large, coming in at 2.5 inches. We found that the graphics were very sharp, and the screen was recessed enough that it shouldn’t have too many problems with scratching.
Inside the box you’ll find a stylus, earbuds, your USB cable and AC adaptor as well as a manual and installation CD. At this time, the D2 is only compatible with PC’s, and it would be nice to see them add access for Macs in the future. It was nice to see them include the USB cable since a lot of manufacturers try to scrimp on that.
One of the most interesting features of the D2 is that you have the option of adding a Smart Card if the onboard 4 gig drive doesn’t offer enough space. This was an option that we really enjoyed, especially since the current Smart Cards offer space in excess of another 4 gigs. We appreciated the fact that you wouldn’t have to cull your music collection if you filled up the onboard drive and this won the device several points.
The touchscreen is responsive, but not overly so, which is good since MP3 players get handled a lot. You’ll have the option of using the included stylus or just your finger. We would have liked to have seen more controls available however for controlling music without having to use the touchscreen. Sometimes it’s nice just to skip ahead by touching a control when it is in your pocket, instead of having to drag out the device and mess with the touchscreen interface.
The D2 offers a little kickstand that makes it easy to display on your desk or a table. This was an interesting feature that many MP3 players lack. You may not get a lot of use out of it if you usually keep your player in your pocket, but it is nice to have. It was also very useful when docking the device since it wasn’t just lying around on our desk.
The feature that really won us over however was the ability to plug your D2 into your television and display your files thanks to the TV output. You can also display the files on your computer monitor. This was a very interesting feature and makes it so much easier to share picture and video files.
The D2’s navigation system was incredibly easy to use and understand. It is very intuitive and offered the ability to do a direct search and then go right back to what you were doing before. There is no perceptible lag time in searching and overall, we found the system to be very fast.
The device supports the following music formats: OGG, MP3, WAV, FLAC and WMA. It was nice to see that they included OGG as well as WMA since not a lot of players that are non-Microsoft offer this feature. The open source OGG format is still pretty popular and we were happy to see that this was included.
For video formats, you can use AVI or WMV files. The display was so sharp and even though the screen was a bit square, most files displayed correctly. In addition to being able to view videos, the device also supports picture files as well.
The battery is probably the best feature about the entire player since it can last, and last, and recharges quickly. We found that it lasted more than 50 hours on one charge for music. You get less time with video, up to 10 hours, but this is still impressive when weighed against the competition.
While Cowon may not be a household name, they do deserve a lot of recognition for going the extra mile with the D2. It includes so many features in one device that it’s hard to find a favorite, but the TV option was close. It may not offer the wireless features of a Zune, and it may not be as widely known as the iPod, but this is a serious contender in the MP3 player market.
When it comes to the bottom line, the price for the D2 is incredibly reasonable. Our model was priced at just under $225, and the smaller 2 gig version is less than $150. Considering the kind of battery life you get and the available features, this is truly a steal. Cowon has managed to put together a player that performs on many levels and they have kept the price at a range that most consumers can afford.
If you’re an iPod purist or a Zune fanatic, there are enough features that come with the D2 to make it worth your while. If you’re just getting into having your MP3 player, this is a great intro device that will provide everything you could possibly need.
In The Box
The D2 comes with two main color options, white or black, and although they are pretty simple when it comes to color palettes, the overall concept of the device is very nice. The edges are smoothed out and it feels substantial in the hand without being weighty. You immediately gain a lot of confidence when you hold the D2 that it will be able to withstand the daily bumps and scrapes that MP3 players must endure, and it does it with style.
The brushed metal exterior includes some controls, in addition to the touchscreen option as well as your standard inputs. The screen itself is quite large, coming in at 2.5 inches. We found that the graphics were very sharp, and the screen was recessed enough that it shouldn’t have too many problems with scratching.
Inside the box you’ll find a stylus, earbuds, your USB cable and AC adaptor as well as a manual and installation CD. At this time, the D2 is only compatible with PC’s, and it would be nice to see them add access for Macs in the future. It was nice to see them include the USB cable since a lot of manufacturers try to scrimp on that.
Features
One of the most interesting features of the D2 is that you have the option of adding a Smart Card if the onboard 4 gig drive doesn’t offer enough space. This was an option that we really enjoyed, especially since the current Smart Cards offer space in excess of another 4 gigs. We appreciated the fact that you wouldn’t have to cull your music collection if you filled up the onboard drive and this won the device several points.
The touchscreen is responsive, but not overly so, which is good since MP3 players get handled a lot. You’ll have the option of using the included stylus or just your finger. We would have liked to have seen more controls available however for controlling music without having to use the touchscreen. Sometimes it’s nice just to skip ahead by touching a control when it is in your pocket, instead of having to drag out the device and mess with the touchscreen interface.
The D2 offers a little kickstand that makes it easy to display on your desk or a table. This was an interesting feature that many MP3 players lack. You may not get a lot of use out of it if you usually keep your player in your pocket, but it is nice to have. It was also very useful when docking the device since it wasn’t just lying around on our desk.
The feature that really won us over however was the ability to plug your D2 into your television and display your files thanks to the TV output. You can also display the files on your computer monitor. This was a very interesting feature and makes it so much easier to share picture and video files.
The D2’s navigation system was incredibly easy to use and understand. It is very intuitive and offered the ability to do a direct search and then go right back to what you were doing before. There is no perceptible lag time in searching and overall, we found the system to be very fast.
Tech Specs
The device supports the following music formats: OGG, MP3, WAV, FLAC and WMA. It was nice to see that they included OGG as well as WMA since not a lot of players that are non-Microsoft offer this feature. The open source OGG format is still pretty popular and we were happy to see that this was included.
For video formats, you can use AVI or WMV files. The display was so sharp and even though the screen was a bit square, most files displayed correctly. In addition to being able to view videos, the device also supports picture files as well.
The battery is probably the best feature about the entire player since it can last, and last, and recharges quickly. We found that it lasted more than 50 hours on one charge for music. You get less time with video, up to 10 hours, but this is still impressive when weighed against the competition.
Overall Opinion
While Cowon may not be a household name, they do deserve a lot of recognition for going the extra mile with the D2. It includes so many features in one device that it’s hard to find a favorite, but the TV option was close. It may not offer the wireless features of a Zune, and it may not be as widely known as the iPod, but this is a serious contender in the MP3 player market.
When it comes to the bottom line, the price for the D2 is incredibly reasonable. Our model was priced at just under $225, and the smaller 2 gig version is less than $150. Considering the kind of battery life you get and the available features, this is truly a steal. Cowon has managed to put together a player that performs on many levels and they have kept the price at a range that most consumers can afford.
If you’re an iPod purist or a Zune fanatic, there are enough features that come with the D2 to make it worth your while. If you’re just getting into having your MP3 player, this is a great intro device that will provide everything you could possibly need.
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